19 April 2015 Opposition: Aston Villa Competition: FA
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Date: 19 April 2015 Times Telegraph Echo April 2015 19 Opposition: Aston Villa Guardian Mirror Birmingham Mail Competition: FA Cup Independent Mail BBC Liverpool cup fairytale left in ruins by Villa Aston Villa’s Fabian Delph ruins Steven Gerrard’s Liverpool FA Cup Aston Villa 2 Benteke 36, Delph 54 dream Liverpool 1 Referee M Oliver Attendance 85,416 There has been no magic wand, Tim Sherwood said last night, lamenting the time The restorative powers of Tim Sherwood know no bounds. A first FA Cup final in 15 years awaits Aston Villa after a team invigorated by the arrival of its new taken to make the desired impact as Aston Villa manager. Try telling Villa's manager two months ago incinerated the script of Steven Gerrard’s dream jubilant supporters that. They had just reached their first FA Cup final since 2000 farewell to Liverpool. Brendan Rodgers was left rummaging for answers amid the and were dreaming of winning the trophy for the first time since 1957. In barely ashes. Villa may have edged away from danger in the Premier League since nine weeks since Sherwood took charge, a depressed club has been reinvigorated. Inspired by the energy of Fabian Delph and the poise of young Jack Grealish in Sherwood breezed into Villa Park in February but they were relegated to a sideshow in the build-up to this FA Cup semi-final by the focus on Gerrard’s so- midfield, Villa fully deserved a victory that will bring them back to Wembley called date with destiny on 30 May. A Wembley showpiece on the occasion of Stadium to take on Arsenal in the final on May 30. While Steven Gerrard's dreams the Liverpoolcaptain’s 35th birthday, bidding adieu to a glittering career with of an FA Cup final farewell from Liverpool -- a Hollywood ending, on his 35th birthday, before he departs for LA Galaxy -- ended in bitter disappointment, Villa's another piece of silverware; it seemed pre-ordained. fans will see no shortage of romance in their overdue resurgence after the Instead, Liverpool froze, Rodgers was tactically outwitted by the Villa manager and Fabian Delph plus Jack Grealish were the outstanding midfielders on display. stagnation of recent years. Tenacious, focused, energetic and purposeful, Villa Sherwood’s side drove into the final against Arsenal with a confident, energetic were everything their opponents were not. This was a wretched afternoon for and stylish performance, a perfectly executed gameplan and the club’s first FA Gerrard and for Liverpool, whose manager, Brendan Rodgers, admitted this was nothing like the first time his team had "come up short" when it really mattered, Cup win over Liverpool since the semi-final of 1897. Ron Vlaar shone amid a disrupted defence and Christian Benteke continued his prolific form with a ninth when the stakes were highest. goal in his last seven outings. Delph’s winner early in the second half was Nobody could accuse Villa of that. So listless in the final months of Paul Lambert's deserved on an individual and collective basis. tenure -- so listless ever since Martin O'Neill departed in the summer of 2010, in By contrast, Liverpool were subdued and anonymous until stirring late on when fact -- they have been reenergised under Sherwood. They looked the more confident, assured team even before Philippe Coutinho, with the help of a Gerrard had a header cleared off the line by Kieran Richardson and substitute Mario Balotelli had a goal disallowed for an incorrect offside decision. Rodgers deflection off Jones Okore, put Liverpool ahead on the half-hour. Undeterred, was submerged in a tactical mess of his own making, ripping up his starting they prevailed through goals from Christian Benteke and Delph, with Grealish formation after only 25 minutes, changing his forward line at half-time and ending involved on both occasions. There is no rocket science behind Villa's the game with almost every outfield Liverpool player in a different position to improvement. Sherwood has merely injected some much-needed belief and energy into a squad that has been drifting towards relegation from the Barclays where they started. It was clarity versus confusion, and clarity inevitably won. Rodgers is now the first Liverpool manager since Phil Taylor in the 1950s not to Premier League. Belief and energy can take a team a long way. win a trophy in his first three seasons at Anfield and the scrutiny will be intense if, Rodgers, by contrast, spent almost the entire afternoon trying to find ways to as appears likely, Champions League qualification remains out of reach this change a game plan that, whatever he tried, appeared to play into Villa's hands. season. But for a brief spell that yielded the opening goal for Philippe Coutinho, Explaining the changes -- from 3-4-2-1 to various manifestations of 4-3-3 and finally to 4-4-2 -- he spoke of his desperation to "spark some energy and flow into the 25 points and 10 places that separated the semi-finalists in the Premier League appeared an illusion. Villa’s front three pressed to the same telling effect our game", saying his team had been "too passive". The diagnosis was spot-on, as Manchester United and Arsenal had done in recent league wins over Liverpool. but no remedy stopped the malaise. Sherwood suggested afterwards that “We knew we’d cause Liverpool problems if we played with two No10s,” said Liverpool's reshuffles had held little interest to him. Attitude matters more to him Sherwood, who also tellingly admitted he “wasn’t bothered” about what Rodgers’ than strategy. Yesterday offered a perfect illustration why. In the absence of the injured Gabriel Agbonlahor, he chose to play Charles N'Zogbia and Grealish in team intended to do as an attacking threat. In the event, it was minimal, with Balotelli posing more problems in a 45-minute substitute’s appearance than advanced roles behind Benteke, suggesting that this would trouble Liverpool's anyone else in yellow. three-man defence. Since it was all going so well, he was not about to change the Sherwood suffered disruption before and during the tie with Gabriel Agbonlahor system just because Rodgers had made changes. Villa were the more impressive from the start, with N'Zogbia forcing Simon failing to recover from a hamstring injury sustained the previous weekend at Tottenham Hotspur. The liberating effect of that 1-0 win at White Hart Lane Mignolet into an awkward save, at full stretch. resonated at Wembley. In the absence of Agbonlahor, Grealish and Charles Briefly, Liverpool took control, exploiting Villa's unease as they adjusted to their N’Zogbia complemented the power of Benteke with tireless, creative own reshuffle, forced by an injury to Nathan Baker. Okore, his replacement, did performances in attack. The 19-year-old Grealish in particular relished the well to tackle Jordan Henderson in the penalty area, but he was too casual in passing the ball to Delph, who was similarly guilty as he dawdled into Joe Allen's occasion, driving at Emre Can throughout and posing a constant threat around the Liverpool area. No wonder the England Under-21 head coach, Gareth Southgate, challenge. From there it was Allen to Raheem Sterling, whose carefully weighted is trying to test the youngster’s allegiance to the Republic of Ireland. pass was controlled delightfully by Coutinho on his way into the penalty area Simon Mignolet produced the first save of the game from N’Zogbia and it required before his shot was deflected in by Okore. You might have thought that the goal a vital interception from Dejan Lovren to prevent the French midfielder releasing would stabilise Liverpool and deflate Villa. It did neither, thanks in part to Delph, who soon put the aberration behind him. Within six minutes Villa were level. Benteke clean through on goal. All Liverpool had to offer in the opening 25 minutes was an optimistic penalty claim. Delph caught Raheem Sterling’s heel as Again they came down the left-hand side, as Delph exchanged passes with the 20-year-old, initially leading his side’s attack in place of the absent and Grealish and continued his run into the penalty area. With Liverpool's defence unreliable Daniel Sturridge, raced into the area. Referee Michael Oliver was stretched, Delph picked out Benteke, whose side-foot shot had just enough power rightly unmoved. It took another injury blow for Villa plus a necessary tactical to beat Mignolet. Liverpool had a brief flurry before the interval -- a shot by Coutinho deflected wide, a header by Dejan Lovren wide from Gerrard's corner -- switch from Rodgers to inject menace into Liverpool’s performance. Nathan Baker’s first start since January – in place of the injured Ciaran Clark – ended with but, with Sterling struggling to escape the shadow of Ron Vlaar, their lack of a a recurrence of a serious knee injury in the 25th minute. Jores Okore entered the focal point in attack was a serious concern to Rodgers The introduction of Mario fray as Rodgers abandoned his three-man defence, and the experiment of Gerrard Balotelli meant a 4-3-3 formation, with Gerrard back in the anchor role in operating anonymously behind Sterling, to go to 4-3-3. Suddenly Liverpool had midfield. Still Villa had more joy with Plan A. Nine minutes into the second half, Delph released Benteke, who, pushed wide, played a back-heel into the path of the impetus and the lead. Coutinho had been the driving force behind Liverpool’s run to the semi-final and Grealish, who sent Delph into the penalty area.